The bases will serve as key support points for environmental monitoring, emergency services and research activities in the area, national park leader Roman Yershov says. “Currently, the development of the Arctic is hampered by a full lack of resources and possibilities to respond to emergency situations”, he underlines in a press release issued by the park administration.
In 2015, a fully operational and self-sufficient base is to open on Aleksandra Land, one of the biggest and westernmost islands in the Franz Josef Land.
The Russkaya Arktika national park includes the Franz Josef Land and the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
According to Aleksey Rastoropov, Arkhangelsk Deputy Minister of Industry and Construction, the development of a LNG-based energy supply system for the Arctic islands is considered as alternative. Such a system would include the construction of a LNG plant in Arkhangelsk, Rastoropov, says. He confirms that investors are being invited to take part in the project.
The Russkaya Arktika national park was formally established in 2009. It includes more a more than 50,000 square kilometers big area in the western part of the Russian Arctic. The area, all of it unhabitated by people, has unique and highly vulnerable ecosystems.
